Al Golden updates recruiting, Cristobal, Gionni Paul and more

CORAL GABLES — It really is a busy time over at the University of Miami.

There's recruiting, moving to the new athletics center, recruiting, hiring Mario Cristobal, and recruiting. Coach Al Golden spoke with Joe Rose on WQAM this morning about all of that.

Though he couldn't speak about specific names on the recruiting trail, Golden touched on the topic. He said his "gun is loaded" and the UM staff was hitting Florida — mainly the southern end — very hard.

"There's a curse and blessing about recruiting in South Florida," Golden told WQAM. "The blessing is a lot of the high-end talent is here. The curse is a lot of the guys don't decide until late because they are so highly sought after. A lot of them, the guys we're involved with, they're in the playoffs or that type of thing. So you have to be patient and we've done that, I believe. We've demonstrated to a lot of young men that we're willing to wait for them. We think they're that good."

And now, a quick rundown of the rest of Golden's interview:

Offensive coordinator Jedd Fisch won't lose play-calling duties with Mario Cristobal's hiring as associate head coach and tight ends coach. Cristobal will help with "ancillary head coaching things and help me see the big picture."

Golden said he and Cristobal were "kindred spirits," as coaches who took over programs at they're lowest.;

Cristobal's recruiting connections are huge in New York and New Jersey from his time at Rutgers.

Golden was shocked Cristobal picked up phone when he called at 9 a.m. on the day he was fired by FIU. They didn't talk about UM job at the time (it wasn't open yet). He was so shocked FIU fired him, really.

Golden didn't think Cristobal should've been fired by FIU. He interviewed other candidates for UM job, but came back to Cristobal.

On the departure of linebacker Gionni Paul: "It wasn't going in the right direction and we decided that a change would be best. Right now we're trying to find Gionni a new home and get a fresh start and move forward."

Golden also said Duke Johnson will be joining the track team too. On Thursday, we reported Phillip Dorsett was participating in this weekend's indoor meet in Kentucky.

The NCAA issue also came up, but Golden didn't have any updates. He did say Miami should be a model for how schools deal with the NCAA after something goes wrong. He also said they've effectively been on probation since this story came out in August of 2011.